Communication, Cyber Extension, Diffusion of Innovations & Training

The word 'Communication' is derived from the Latin root word communis, which literally means 'common'.
As Wilbur Schramm famously defined: 'When we communicate, we are trying to establish a 'commonness' with someone. That is, we are trying to share information, an idea, or an attitude.' Communication is fundamentally a process of sharing together to create common understanding and mutual agreement.

J. Paul Leagans (1963) proposed a communication model specifically tailored for extension work consisting of 6 essential elements:

• Communicator (Sender)
• Message (Content)
• Channel (Transmission medium)
• Treatment of message (How the message is handled/presented)
• Audience (Receivers/Farmers)
  6. Audience Response (Action, feedback, or adoption by the listeners)

In communication studies, Paralanguage (or Vocalics) refers to the non-verbal vocal cues that accompany spoken words—such as voice tone, pitch, volume, pacing, pauses, rhythm, and inflection. Because paralanguage conveys emotional meaning and context without involving the actual semantic words spoken, it is categorized as a core dimension of Non-verbal Communication.

Communication is defined as the interactive two-way process by which two or more people exchange ideas, facts, feelings, and impressions in ways that each gains a common understanding of the message. In the context of agricultural extension, sharing information and knowledge between change agents and farmers is termed communication.